by Almost a year on from the sinking of the Titanic, a US billionaire has announced that he intends to return to the wreck of the Titanic to prove that it can be done safely.
Larry Connor, 74, is sinking $20 million into his new submarine with the company Triton Submarines, he confirmed The Independent that plans are in place to visit the wreck sometime in 2026.
He is partnered with Patrick Lahey, who has over 40 years experience with submarine companies, as co-CEO of Triton Submarines.
Lahey has previously expressed his concern about the activities of OceanGate, the company behind last year’s tragedy, which killed five people.
The submarine designer, who visited the deepest point in the ocean with Connor, described OceanGate’s approach to commercial underwater exploration as “predatory” to The Rising.
He was a close friend of Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 73, who died in the disaster, and explained that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, was so manipulative that he could “convince someone who knew and understood the risks” to proceed. a “contraption” of immersion.
Said Connor, a real estate billionaire from Ohio The Wall Street Journal: “I want to show people around the world that even though the ocean is incredibly powerful, it can be really fun and really transformative if you do it the right way.”
The New Submarine
The new submersible will be called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer. The 4000 in the name refers to the depth it can reach, which is slightly more than where the Titanic is located at 3,800 meters.
It has a much smaller capacity than the doomed Titan submersible, which could fit five people, and there will only be room for two.
Triton Submarines confirmed that The Independent unlike OceanGate they currently have no plans to offer commercial tours of the Titanic.
However, they offer commercial ventures, which can charge up to $750,000 for the Marina Trench.
Conor explained that although Lahey had wanted to build a submersible like the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer for some time, the technology to create it did not exist until recently.
“Pádraig has been thinking about this and designing it for over ten years. But we didn’t have the materials and the technology,” he said The Wall Street Journal. “You couldn’t have taken the sub five years ago.”
The new submersible is said to cost $20 million to build.
“We had a client, a great guy,” Lahey said. “He called me [in the wake of the OceanGate disaster] and he said, ‘You know, what we need to do is build a subdivision that can dive into it [Titanic-level depths] repeatedly safely and show the world that you can do it, and that the Titan was a countermeasure.’”
The new submarine is being touted as the world’s deepest acrylic submarine with a revolutionary “gullwing design” that will allow it to maneuver easily at depth.
Meanwhile, the Titan had a controversial carbon fiber hull which is believed to have weakened it over time from repeated voyages on the Titanic, leading to the “disastrous accident” last June.
OceanGate charged $250,000 for a trip to the Titanic and passengers signed a waiver assuming the possibility of death.
Triton Submarines: Depth and Safety
Triton Submarines has already proven itself to be a leader in its field, undertaking various record-breaking dives, including the aforementioned trip to the Marina Trench.
The trench, which is the deepest part of the ocean, is 10,984 meters deep – more than twice as deep as the Titanic at 3,800 metres.
Unlike OceanGate’s self-admittedly “experimental” submersibles, Triton Submarines have safety accreditation, including the Triton 36000/2 which is the only fully accredited submersible capable of reaching the full depth of the ocean.
The company’s safety fact sheet states: “Triton Submarines does not produce experimental vehicles, but series-built submersibles that meet and deliver full certification from a third-party classification society.”
Free Titanic website,
There are currently no plans for a crewed trip to the Titanic wreck this year.
In July, RMS Titanic Inc, which owns the salvage rights to the wreck, plans to send robots to the site. This is their first trip to the wreck since 2010.
As stated on their website: “This trip will use cutting-edge technology to focus on high-resolution imaging and photography of the site to preserve the legacy of the Titanic for future generations and scientific study.
“ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) will do it to survey the wreck site and the debris field. The images captured will reveal important new insights into the condition of the site, areas and artefacts at risk, and will contribute to ongoing conservation efforts and educational initiatives already underway.”
But despite the reported scientific nature of the study, the US government filed a motion to halt the trip last year, citing the site’s status as a cemetery.
There have been no public updates since then and the RMS Titanic Inc website is still advertising the voyage.
Titan Investigation
After the wreck of the Titan was discovered near the bow of the Titanic last June, it was declared that the tank had been lost in a catastrophic accident.
This is believed to have happened shortly after the sub lost contact with its ship, one hour and 45 minutes after it dived on the Titanic.
OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, 61, Hamish Harding, 58, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19, died in the disaster and were reportedly killed instantly.
An investigation into what happened was launched and the US Coast Guard confirmed that The Independent that it is still in the “fact-finding” phase as of May 2024.
A spokesman for the Coast Guard told The Independent: “The Titan Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) is still in the fact-finding phase of the investigation and is gathering all relevant evidence and information.
“There is no projected completion date available.
“The second part of the fact-finding phase will include a public hearing, and the MBI will give at least 60 days notice before the public hearing.”
The Independent have contacted Triton Submarines and RMS Titanic Inc for further comment.
